Wednesday, 21 July 2010

How the Blairs bring shame on Britain


By DAILY MAIL COMMENT


Last updated at 1:18 AM on 20th July 2010



Consumed by greed, deaf to considerations of propriety, Tony and Cherie Blair continue to enhance their reputation as one of the most unedifying couples on the world stage.

At the weekend, the Mail exposed Mr Blair's secret visit to Colonel Gaddafi last month, days after he had denied being an adviser to the Libyan dictator behind the Lockerbie bombing.

Today, we reveal how his wife flew in a private jet to Albania as the guest of an oil tycoon who faces criminal charges of beating up an anti-corruption journalist.

Cherie Blair opens a TV station belonging to notorious Albanian businessman Rezart Taci

Cherie Blair opens a TV station belonging to notorious Albanian businessman Rezart Taci

Without a hint of irony, Mrs Blair even congratulated the unsavoury Rezart Taci on his commitment to Press freedom, as she performed an inauguration ceremony at his Alsat TV station.

Is there anything the Blairs won't say or do at the behest of the mega-rich?

It's not just their own reputations they are dragging into the gutter. They bring Britain into disrepute, too, as they travel the lecture circuit, shamelessly cashing in (at up to £80,000 an hour, in Mr Blair's case) on their years at Number 10.

Meanwhile, as taxpayers' bills for the couple's security and expenses at the best hotels top £6million a year, international protests are growing over the former prime minister's neglect of his duties as a Middle east peace envoy.

Aren't we entitled to ask why we should go on contributing to their opulent lifestyle - and why Mrs Blair, with her shocking lack of wisdom, remains a judge in the British courts?

No position to judge

More from Daily Mail Comment...


The Mail has no doubts about the integrity of Sir Peter Gibson, the 76-yearold former High Court judge appointed by David Cameron to head an inquiry into allegations that our intelligence services have been complicit in the torture of terrorist suspects.

But doesn't his job as Intelligence services Commissioner, responsible for overseeing the conduct of MI5 and MI6, place him in a highly awkward position?

Clive Stafford smith, who represents several of the accusers, argues sir Peter ought to be giving evidence to the inquiry, rather than chairing it.

Though we hold no brief for the lawyer's clients, he has a powerful point.

Unhealthy obsession

Doesn’t it defy belief that at least 90 English councils have been secretly sifting through householders' rubbish, including discarded mail, to gather information on different social and ethnic groups' attitudes to recycling?

This obsession with the contents of our bins - which, of course, doesn't extend to collecting them - is beyond satire.

It's not only a time-consuming waste of ratepayers' money, at this moment of acute crisis in the public finances. It's an unjustifiable intrusion into our privacy.

Where household rubbish is concerned, councils should do only what we pay them for. And that's dispose of it - at least once a week.

Justice gone nuts

A 58-year-old window cleaner has been landed with a criminal record - and costs of more than £1,500 - after drowning a grey squirrel that had been raiding his bird-feeders.

According to the RSPCA, squirrels and other pests should be taken to the vet to be put down (for up to £40 a time).

Meanwhile, the Government says chasing them into a sack and cracking their skulls is more humane.

The Mail abhors cruelty to animals. But when it comes to these pests, which feed on songbirds' eggs and do such terrible damage to trees, aren't we in danger of losing our sense of proportion?



Posted by Britannia Radio at 20:13